The Hippocratic Ghost
by RussM
Summary: After a case the perpetrator threatens to turn into a ghost and wreck revenge on them all, the gang think nothing of it but soon it looks likes it was more than idle threats.  Loosely follows on from 'He's Sacred, She's Scared On The Ski Slopes'
1. Calling Code

It was a quiet night in St Gabriel's Hospital, between ward rounds a group of nurses were hanging round the nurses' station idly gossiping, mostly about a blond, broad-shouldered male nurse who had recently joined, security guards were patrolling, the occasional doctor was walking about. A tall gangly porter was pushing a sleeping red-headed patient between wards.

Two doctors were walking through the hospital, both were of similar height, nearly 6 feet tall one had slightly longer hair than the other. They walked passed wards and laboratories' showing no interest in what was happening within. They were heading towards the administrative area of the hospital and both were keeping a low profile. Following a discrete distance was a third doctor. This doctor wasn't much over 5 feet tall; she had short auburn hair and thick rectangular glasses. She moved carefully and quietly so as not to draw attention to herself.

The first two paused near a junction of two corridors, they spoke to each other in hushed tones.

"Are you off to the common room?"

"No, I have some work to do in the records room first. Check on me in a while to make sure I haven't been surprised, you know how it is in there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I don't want any 'ghosts' creeping up on me."

"I'll make sure no ghost gets you."

With that the figures parted, the taller figure headed to the record room, the other carries on along the corridor

The third doctor observed the proceedings from the shadows, they noted that one of the figures had departed, so quietly moved to the edge of the corridor, they quickly glanced down the corridor; it was long with only one door down its entire length. They smiled when the other doctor went through the door; after a minute they followed the first figure quietly into the room. Nobody saw another figure walk down the corridor shortly after the small doctor had entered the room. A minute later the porter wheeling the red-headed patient entered the same corridor, he paused to speak to the blond male nurse and a couple of security guards who had walked down from the other end just in front of the door. The sign above said _Medical Records Room. No Unauthorised Access_.

The records room, a maze of filing cabinets and floor-to-ceiling shelves, was mostly dark the only light coming from a couple of desk-lamps illuminating a table deep within the bowels of the room. On that table the first doctor laid out a number of files, a short distance away the smaller doctor hidden in the darkness watched their activity with interest, the light from the lamps dimly reflecting off her thick rectangular glasses. "Dr Rubert, just as I suspected" whispered the small doctor looking at the other figure hunched over the table photographing the records as she silently took her own photographs. Satisfied she prepared to leave as quietly as she had arrived, just then the person at the table looked up and spoke.

"I hope you are as satisfied with your photographs as I am with mine?" They turned round and approached her "happy now you ruined me?" he snarled

The smaller doctor spoke as she backed away "the games up Dr Rubert, you had better come quietly..."

"You'll be the one going quietly meddling Dr Dinkley" snarled Dr Rubert, the surprise at her cover being blown was evident in Velma's face. Her hand shot to the pager on her waist just as she felt a sharp jab in her arm and a wave of cold wash over her. As the sensation of cold faded Velma felt her muscle tone and strength vanish, her body collapsed from under her and the world began to blur. Her last meaningful memory was someone kneeling over and reaching for her head.

Outside in the corridor a pager began to sound.

"Panic alarm! Velma's in trouble!" shouted Daphne throwing back the sheets and leaping from the trolley while Scooby darted out from underneath it.

Fred, Shaggy and the security guards were already at the door to the medical records room, it was locked, from the inside. A couple of desperate minutes later they were able to force the door open and raced inside, peace returning to the corridor. It was broken a short while later by the hospital PA system _Code Blue Medical Records Room, Code Blue Medical Records Room.._.

(A/N Code Blue is a call sign used in some hospitals to summon medics to a patient who needs immediate resuscitation)


	2. Meds

It was several hours later and Velma was sitting up in a hospital bed looking through a fashion magazine and laughing at every page. Scooby was near her bed, suspiciously eyeing anyone who came near, he was crouched down ready to defend her at a moment's notice. Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and one of the doctors stood just outside her room looking in.

"Well doc, when will she be OK? She, she will be OK, wont she?" asked Shaggy not taking his eyes off Velma. Fred and Daphne stood either side of Shaggy; each had an arm on his shoulder closest to them. Even now they could feel him shaking slightly as he asked the second question for the umpteenth time that morning.

"In a couple of hours or so" replied the doctor "she was injected with a large dose of a pre-operative sedative and this is one of the side-effects. Tomorrow she won't remember any of this, so if you have any bad jokes you want to tell and get laughed at then now's your chance" Shaggy looked around, rubbed his hands and walked into her room. Daphne looked at Velma and had to do a double-take; Velma was hungrily eyeing Shaggy, mentally undressing him as he walked in.

"That's just nasty, are you sure she won't remember any of this?" said Daphne trying to get her mind off Velma's gaze.

"Medical humour Miss Blake, Dr Dinkley will be fine, plus Mr Rogers will feel a lot better as a result" replied the Doctor, they left covering their ears as the first of Shaggy's jokes and Velma's shrieks of laughter echoed round the corridor. Scooby propelled himself out of the room by his back legs as fast as he could, his front paws pressed firmly over his ears.

"Plus when she stops laughing we'll know she'll be good to go home" he shouted over the noise

"Just pray they don't start singing" muttered Fred.

An hour later Shaggy walked into the common room where the rest of the gang were waiting.

"Shag, how's Velma doing? You decided she's suffered enough?" Fred teased as soon as he walked in. Scooby readied his paws to cover his ears if the need arose.

"Humph, she wore herself out laughing if you _must_ know so she's having a little nap." he replied giving a mock pout. He sat down next to Daphne then looked at Fred with a worried face "Look Fred when are we going to tell her exactly what happened? I, I don't think I can do it, I know I'll lose it if I try."

"When the time is right Shag" replied Daphne, putting her arm around him "When the time is right"

"I'll try when she wakes up, but I'll skip the details, to be honest I can't bear to recall them." Fred's reluctance was clear, but as the leader it was his job to do the unpleasant tasks as well as the pleasant.

"Thanks Fred" smiled Daphne "I'd be in an even worse state than Shaggy if I tried."

Velma stretched and opened her eyes; she was surprised to find herself lying in bed in a sun-lit room, Fred was sitting in the chair next to her bed looking through a newspaper, he looked up the moment she stirred "Emm morning Fred? Did I fall asleep on the case?"

"No, you caught Dr Rubert red-handed but he injected you with a sedative before you could get out of there, you've spent half a day asleep or laughing at Shaggy's jokes. Fortunately you activated your panic alarm and in rode the cavalry, we stopped him from hurting you, it was a very close call Velma, too close" the tone draining from his voice as he reached the end.

"Was that to save me from Rubert or Shaggy's jokes? Either way thank you nurse Jones" giggled Velma, still a little under the influence of the sedative "Daph still sulking?"

"She's still sore at not getting to play nurse" smiled Fred.

"I bet she is. Jinkies my neck is itchy, Fred?" Velma started to scratch her neck as she spoke

"Yeah, looks like you have a rash running around your neck, a couple of inches wide."

"Oh joy I'm allergic to sedatives."

"Yeah, emm something like that" Fred laughed nervously "Do you want some coffee?" he changed the subject..

"Now you're talking" Velma sat up in bed

After several mugs of coffee Velma felt normal and was finally able to think clearly. She remembered what Fred trying to tell her about something being a close call and decided to find out more.

"Fred, you know what you said about it being a close call?"

"Yes"

"I don't remember anything much, I can remember falling though it felt more like floating, then I think someone was moving my head but I can't be sure. What happened?" Velma sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Fred.

Fred looked uncomfortable and scratched the back of his head "He emm, was, well trying to... y'know, well you wouldn't be here..."

"Fred, I don't think I actually want to know the details" Velma leant forward and put her hand on his arm "you all saved my life from what it sounds like." For Fred not to be able to come straight out and say what had almost happened to her Velma knew it must have been bad. Aside from a rash round her neck she felt fine so decided not to press the issue further just now.

"There's only one thing that puzzles me, there was a second doctor with Rubert just before he went into the records room, do you know who it was?"

"I didn't see another doctor and I don't recall Shaggy saying he saw one either."

"Hmmm odd, I wonder if I imagined that as well"

"Well, I think the drug messed with your memory so perhaps it'll all come back"

"Possibly" thought given Fred's recent reaction she wasn't sure she wanted all her memories to come back

It was a couple of months later and the gang were reviewing their notes reading themselves for the impending trial of Dr Rubert on charges of theft and selling of medical records. The meeting dragged on late into the evening as they worked on the documentation required by the prosecution, just like all the other meeting. Finally that day's work was done and it was time to pack-up for the night.

"See you" Velma waved to Fred and Daphne as they headed to the Mystery Machine, she closed the door and rested against it, a few seconds later she started awake. Velma trudged slowly into the kitchen where Shaggy handed her a large mug of hot chocolate "Here Vel, you look beat"

"I am beat Shag, I'm off to bed. Thanks for doing the washing up and for the hot chocolate, night Scoob." Velma yawned as she headed up the stairs to bed. She changed, flopped into bed and was just about awake enough to drink the drink then she lay back, wrapped herself up in the duvet and rested her head on the pillow and was asleep before she knew it.

The next thing she knew she awoke to find herself being held tightly by Shaggy "Shhh Vel, you are safe, shhhh" Scooby was standing alert on the bed, teeth bared, ready to deal with whatever had scared her. The unvoiced scream died in her throat as she came fully awake _not again_ she thought _that's every night this week. _"Another nightmare?" he asked softly Velma nodded slowly; her eyes open wide with the shock of her violent awakening. Shaggy began gently massaging her head and within a short while he could feel Velma's body begin to unwind under his attention. She rested her head against his chest; she sighed with a delicious mixture of pleasure and relaxation, the recent terrors forgotten. Eventually Shaggy could tell from her breathing and body tone that she was asleep. Holding her up with one hand, he fluffed their pillows with the other then gently laid her down. He lay down next to her, wrapped themselves up in the duvet and held her as close as he could, she made a quiet, contented noise as he gently nuzzled her neck.

"Thanks again Scoob, night night." whispered Shaggy, Scooby was already asleep at the bottom of their bed.

"Morning guys" said Daphne as Scooby, Shaggy and Velma walked in through the front door.

"Breakfast is served" said Shaggy holding up a couple of bags.

"I'll help Daph with the coffee" said Velma

Velma wandered towards the kitchen while Shaggy slumped in one of the dining chairs round the table putting the bag of food on the table. Fred brought some plates and sat down next to Shaggy.

"Hey Shagster you look beat" Shaggy nodded, Fred waited till Velma was in the kitchen talking to Daphne and making some coffee before he continued in a quieter voice "Vel have another nightmare?"

"Ahh man, a couple of times every night this week, like she doesn't even wake up for some of them, Ever since we started preparing for Rubert's trial, do you think she's reliving what happened to her?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders "Can she describe the nightmare?"

"Nope, the best she can say is a smothering darkness, I guess she remembers more than she knows. I hope it'll stop after his trial."

"So do I man" said Fred rubbing him on the shoulder "come on, let's help the girls with the coffee"

Finally they all sat down at the dining table for their regular weekly business meeting come breakfast.

"More coffee sleepyheads?" asked Daphne looking at Shaggy and Velma, both nodded, pushing their mugs towards her.

"Still all this waking up early will get you two in practice for when you have kids" laughed Fred

"Please Fred you sound like my mother" groaned Velma resting her head on the table

"Mine's like trying to get all her friends knitting baby things" said Shaggy

"Yeah it's not like Daph's been collecting baby clothes catalogues…"

"Anyway!" said Daphne giving Fred an icy stare "Rubert's trial, we have the final pre-trial meeting with our lawyer tomorrow then it's the case the day after that."

"Right" said Fred passing round the agenda "First item of business…baby names"

"Freddie!" said Shaggy and Velma simultaneously

(A/N now not even I'm mad/sad/cruel enough to write up a whole business meeting for you to read )


	3. Thought Crime

A week later the trial of Dr Rubert was dragging to a close, Velma had just finished a morning long cross-examined from Rubert's defence team.

"...no further questions your honour."

"Thank you Dr Dinkley, you may leave the stand" said the judge. Velma stepped down from the witness stand and was directed to an ante-room where she could listen to the rest of the proceedings. She was glad to get away from the stand, Rubert had been staring at her, without blinking, during the whole time she was giving evidence. She'd had creeps try to unsettle her whilst giving evidence before but this time he seemed to be trying to reach deep inside her, to get some kind of control over her. She arrived at the room and settled into a chair while Fred was giving his evidence, she pulled a book out from her bag and began to read, only half listening to what Fred was saying, her eyes began to get heavy as the cross-examination droned on.

"So Mr Jones, can you describe what happened next?"

"As soon as we heard Velma's panic alarm we went to the records room but found that the door had been locked, and locked from the inside. The hospital security guards with us were eventually able to force open the door and we went inside and looked for Velma."

Velma frowned wondering how the door became locked from the inside. She shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading her book trying to both stay awake and ignore the faint but unpleasant odour in the room.

"Mr Jones, can you describe exactly what you saw when you found Dr Dinkley?"

"We…"

Fred paused slightly; Velma sat back and listened, something in his voice caught her attention she knew they have saved her from being harmed, but as she didn't remember any of it and the effect of the sedative had dulled any emotional connection it had to her. Shaggy had tried to tell her but had ended up just clinging to her in tears so she had decided not to pursue the matter further. As he spoke she could sense the tension in his voice, he spoke slowly, keeping his emotions under strict control. Sitting back had been a mistake as her head now rested on the wall an she involuntarily closed her eyes.

"We found Velma lying on the floor; a plastic bag had been placed over her head then taped closed around her neck. Dr Rubert was kneeling over her; every time Velma tried to bring a hand to her face he pushed the hand away, there was a syringe on the floor next to her."

Velma's hand went to her throat "He tried to, to kill me like _that_?" suddenly Rubert was there kneeling over her, she could see him as clear as day. Her fear mounted as he slowly and methodically placed the clear plastic bag over her head, she willed her hands to move but she was paralysed. Then there was the tearing sound of tape; she could feel the tape round her neck now, itching and sticking to her skin, there was tightness over her face, she could barely breath, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to get enough air.

"And when you got to her, what was Dr Dinkley's condition?"

"She was barely breathing, her lips were blue and she was deeply unconscious, the security guards called the crash team who stabilised her."

Velma began to claw at her neck and face as she began hyperventilating, she started going blue in face, her lungs were moving but was unable to breathe. Velma stood up an lunged for the door, she knew she had to get out, she staggered a few steps then stumbled, knocking over chairs and tables as she fell to the floor.

Velma awoke to pandemonium; she was lying on the ground, Scooby was nuzzling her, there was an oxygen mask on her face and paramedics were all around her. She'd been here before, but those times Shaggy had been there, she sat up in a panic.

"Whoa there Dr Dinkley, calm down you had a nasty fall back there" said a paramedic placing their hands on her shoulders.

"What, where am I?"

"Velma!" Shaggy and the rest of the gang appeared a few seconds later, he was at her side in an instant.

Velma was loaded onto a wheeled stretcher and readied for moving to the ambulance, she was wheeled out of the room just as Rubert was being lead away. On seeing what was going on Rubert gave an evil laugh and shook his fist in their direction.

"I am a psychic master Dinkley, I will get you, you and all you friends, I will get revenge! Where ever you are my mind will reach out you will all suffer! That was just a taste of my power!" ranted Rubert and he lunged for the gang. He was wrestled to the ground by court officials and led away, his threats of revenge slowly fading as he was dragged to the cells.

"Nutjob" muttered Fred

"Guess we're off his Christmas list" said Shaggy giving a nervous laugh.

Early that evening at the Blake mansion the gang were together having just collected Velma from hospital. Shaggy gad asked for a little time alone with Velma so they had gone to one of the many reception rooms, she was sitting back in a reclining chair and Shaggy was sitting opposite her on a long couch.

"Sorry Vel, we meant to tell you all the details but it kinda got forgot about in all the rush afterwards then we were just so relieved that you were OK. As you didn't remember any of it we never got around to tell you" Shaggy looked at the floor and shuffled his feet slightly "Then you started getting nightmares, I didn't want to make the nightmares even worse. Yours or mine"

"I understand Shag, I wouldn't have wanted to either." Velma walked over and embraced him "and thanks for dealing with the nightmares. It was so reassuring to know you and Scooby would be there and awake every time I woke up."

"At least you're safe from his psychic powers now he's in prison" said Shaggy

"Psychic powers my foot; the doctor's reckon I had a panic attack; Fred's description was too descriptive for me. I was really tired and I think I half fell asleep into a hypnogogic state, where the body is paralysed but the brain is still awake. The state is scary enough but when coupled with Fred's description it made my nightmare all too real. Still it would suggest that I'm susceptible to hypnosis so we'd better get Fred to add that to our personal risks log."

"Man"

"There was also some carbon monoxide in my blood which didn't help. They suspect that fumes were leaking in from the car-park underneath. That's why I have a headache at the moment."

"I can cure headaches" Shaggy wiggled his fingers, Velma's face instantly brightened.

"You don't have to ask me twice" Velma turned around and sat on his lap and he began to massage her head

"Scooby Snacks and head massages is all it takes to bribe us" muttered Velma dreamily after a few minutes, Shaggy's thumbs began to gently massage the base of her skull where it joined her neck

"Oh jin-kies" she whispered.

Daphne came in a short while later, she stopped and looked at Shaggy and Velma then looked enviously at Velma and the expression on her face. "Earth to Velma, cook says dinner in just under an hour is that OK?" asked Daphne as she walked over, Velma opened her mouth slightly but no meaningful sound came out, her eyes were unfocussed and glazed over.

"I don't know how you do what you do to her Shag, but I sure wish it would work on me" Daphne slumped dejectedly on Velma's vacant chair, she looked at Velma again "It's just so unfair"

"Shall I stop?" asked Shaggy

"No Shag, after today she sure deserves it, I don't begrudge you two anything. But why won't it work on me? It just looks _so_ good."

Finally Shaggy went for Velma's 'off switch' and he laid her down on the couch.

"Like I'll go help in the kitchen, Vel should be back before dinner is served. Hopefully her headache will be gone by then."

Half an hour later a very bleary-eyed Velma began to stir.

"Back with us Velms?" Daphne looked at Velma as she slowly sat up on the couch, and rubbed her eyes

"Mmmmm I think so, sorry Daph I just go somewhere else when Shaggy massages my head just like that."

"Just like _that_, so there are other ways apart from your famous 'off-switch'? This just gets worse; so what are those other ways, where do you go?" said Daphne

"I have no idea where Daph, at a guess some sort of trance-like state, and yes it is as good as it looks. As for the other ways well there's the Velma needs to zone out completely way, the Velma can't get to sleep way, then there's my 'off switch' as you all call it, the Velma's had a hard day and needs to unwind way, the Velma's not feeling very well way, the Velma's feeling upset about things way, the Velma's feeling..." she stopped and began to go red in the face.

"I don't want to hear any more" said Daphne pretending to cover her ears "well I do actually but this isn't the time for juicy gossip."

"Why do you think I proposed to him Daph? I wasn't going to wait on traditions, even if Shaggy did nearly faint when I got down on one knee."

"Firstly I still can't believe you did that and second I still can't believe you two got married so quickly. We're still planning ours." Daphne seemed deflated by the whole affair

"A simple civil ceremony suited us fine Daph, you want the big dress full church massive reception and that all takes time. Don't get me wrong I'm really excited to be part of yours, but that kind of thing just wasn't us. Well, aside the big reception that is."

"Don't remind me, I've never seen so much food vanish so fast."

"Talking of food, when's dinner? I'd just missed dinner at the hospital."

"Well we can tell that you're a Rogers now" laughed Daphne as she helped Velma up and they headed for the dining room.

It was several months later and they were all round at Fred and Daphne's house where Velma was having the final fitting of her bridesmaid dress. After it was done they just sat around the house catching some well needed rest as they were all working overtime to clear a space in their caseload for Fred and Daphne's honeymoon. Velma was reading from the paper while everyone else was watching TV.

"Hey gang a blast from the recent past listen to this" Velma pointed at the paper she was reading "'Disgraced physician Dr Penrose Rubert was arrested again after conducting illegal medical experiments while helping out at the prison hospital'. It seems he was attempting to develop the ability to turn into a ghost at will by all accounts."

"Why?" asked Shaggy, then regretted his question

"According to the article he was trying to enhance his 'psychic ability' to enable him to get revenge on those who put him in jail…"

"The State Prosecutor?" Shaggy asked hopefully

"No silly, good old Mystery Inc."

"We he's going to have to get in line like the rest of them" said Fred

"Like, don't remind us man" replied Shaggy from behind the couch where he and Scooby were now hiding.

"Come on you two chickens" said Velma as she hauled them out from their hiding place "it's scientifically impossible to turn someone into a ghost."

"Speaking of ghosts, we need to get supplies in for the Arizona ghost cattle case tomorrow. Velms, Shag it's your turn to go shopping."

"Have you fixed the radio Fred?" Shaggy asked

"Yes"

"Yes!" exclaimed Velma, she high-fived Shaggy as they ran cheering for the Mystery Machine.

When they had gone Daphne turned to Fred and gave him a cold, hard stare "This plan of yours had better work or I'll be turning you into a ghost."


	4. Deus ex Mystery Machina

The Mystery Machine was heading home from picking up supplies for their forthcoming Arizona case. Velma was driving and Shaggy was working the radio, hunting for songs for them to sing along with, at or over; opinion being divided on the matter. As long as it was loud and familiar they were happy and sang along to the music at the top of their voices. So far Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA' (changed to Born in Coolsville), Run DMC/Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way', Queen's 'We Will Rock You' and 'Radio GaGa', 'Crazy Nights' by Kiss and one of their favourites 'Bat Out Of Hell' by Meat Loaf had received their special attention. The flow was broken when Shaggy accidentally changed the station and they found themselves trying to sing along to the operetta HMS Pinafore but they gave it their best shot. Unbeknownst to them a police car travelled a discrete distance ahead to warn of their imminent arrival, children were called inside, windows and doors were closed and locked.

Daphne looked up and smiled at Fred as he handed her a glass of chilled fruit juice "Thanks Freddie" she glanced at the clock on the wall "I'd sit down quick and enjoy the peace and quiet while you can like Scooby here." Scooby was lying on his back asleep, one of his legs twitching occasionally as he dreamt.

"You don't have to tell me twice" said Fred lying down on the couch and resting his head on Daphne's lap "I reckon we have about five minutes" he sighed as he stretched out, Daphne reached down and stroked his hair "I sure hope those two have got it out of their system otherwise they'll be walking to Arizona."

Daphne giggled "What gets me is that Velma has a really beautiful voice, you should hear her in the bath."

"True and she sure wowed them when she sang at her wedding last year. But add Shaggy and heavy rock to the mix and…"

"As long as they don't give us an album of their cover versions for Christmas like they did last year I'll be happy" Daphne closed her eyes and shuddered with the memory, Scooby had buried his copy of 'The Louder You Play It The Better It Is' somewhere in the garden within a few seconds of hearing 'it' blaring out of the stereo.

Fred raised his glass to Daphne "To a peaceful journey"

"You said it" she replied touching her glass against his.

Guns n Roses 'Paradise City' came on just as they drove into their road so they drove straight past their house. Velma drove around the neighbourhood whilst Shaggy practised air guitar until the song was almost finished and they headed for home. Velma again turned the corner into their road just as Shaggy got lost in some complicated chord work, the sudden change in direction caused him to accidentally hit the AC controls and a fine dust was blown into the compartment as the system kicked into life, much of it going directly into their faces, so much of the dust went into Velma's face that she was blinded for a few seconds.

"Jinkies!" coughed Velma inhaling the dust "Fred needs to clean this... this..." Velma paused uncertain at what she had been trying to say. Feeling a bit light-headed and hot she shook her head but the feeling wouldn't clear and that just made her feel dizzy. Things were becoming decidedly fuzzy all of a sudden and there was an odd buzzing in her ears, her breathing became heavy and laboured, her head just wanted to flop forward. She knew stopping was important, but couldn't remember what it was she had to stop.

"Man, like, you OK Vel?" muttered Shaggy his head beginning to roll. He blinked several time but could barely keep his eyes open, he didn't have the strength to keep his arms up any more so they just slumped by his sides, the radio sounded so thin and distorted. His eyes floated around the cabin, the dust which was everywhere a few seconds ago now seemed to be vanishing,

"So… tired?" mumbled Velma and the swung the wheel round to enter the driveway, Shaggy slid sideways down the seat, Velma's head slumped backwards and her legs shot out.

Scooby was still sleeping, Fred and Daphne had curled up spooning on the sofa together enjoying the last few minutes of quiet. The peace was broken by the nearby sound of an engine being revved hard followed seconds later by the sickening sound of a bending medal, breaking glass and the continuous blare of a horn.

"Jeepers, that sounds like a bad smash, you go see if you can help and I'll call the fire department" said a startled Daphne. As Daphne went for the phone Fred bolted for the door and dashed outside, he looked up and down the road, that seemed strangely clear but the sound of the horn was deafening. He noticed their neighbours pointing and running towards them. He turned, slowly with a mounting sense of trepidation and was rooted to the spot, barely able to breathe, let alone react to what he saw.

"The fire department will be here in a few minutes Fred, Fred? Fred! Where is..." Daphne stopped and the colour drained from her face as she caught sight of what he was staring at "oh no" was all she could whisper and her hand went up to his shoulder. There was the Mystery Machine half buried in the ruins of their garage with no sign of life coming from within.

Fred had just finished with calling Shaggy and Velma's parents while Daphne was looking out of the window as the rescue unfolded. "Freddie!" Daphne called out in a panicked whisper "Freddie, quick, look!" Fred dashed over; Daphne's hands were clenched together in front of her face, almost as if she was too scared to look. Stretchers had been brought forward, but not for their friends, two of the rescuers were being carried away from the scene, both appeared to be unconscious, both were on oxygen. The fire crews working to free Shaggy and Velma were now wearing HAZMAT suits. The paramedics waiting nearby were wearing respirators with air tanks strapped to their backs

Fred held Daphne tightly trying to stop both of her trembling; his innards were all of a quiver. Finally the crews were ready to extract the two occupants, Daphne span round and buried her face in his chest at the sight of Velma being brought out, strapped to a spinal board, her face a bloody mess. The impact had been enough to break her glasses and by the looks of him Shaggy had fared no better, Fred reached out and touched the window, he wanted them to know that they were not alone. Both of their stretchers were wrapped in plastic to isolate the outside world from its occupants and whatever had affected them. Fred felt sick to the stomach but continued to watch, as the leader of the gang he felt it was his responsibility towards Shaggy, Velma and their parents to be able to give an honest accounting of what had happened. Police appeared and began to tape off the area. It was now no longer an accident; it was a crime-scene. Only when the ambulances were out of sight did he lead Daphne away from the window and back to the sofa. Now that there was no more he could do for them did he cling onto Daphne and let his own tears flow.


	5. Dr Rubert's calling card

Fred and Daphne paced between Shaggy and Velma's rooms tearing their hair out with worry. By rights Shaggy and Velma should have by now been sitting up in bed complaining about hospital food with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises between them. Instead both were more seriously injured than expected as for some inexplicable reason both seat-belts and air-bags had failed on impact. They were also in some kind of deep coma but so far no reason for this could be found. To make matters worse the police were considering charging Velma with driving under the influence of drink or drugs as the Mystery Machine had been reported as being driven erratically just before it crashed. Late that evening the police dropped a bombshell, Velma was to be charged with DUI, traces of some kind of narcotic had been found in the bloodstream. As for the supplier of the drug, Shaggy was the prime suspect; traces had also been found in his blood as well. They were asked to look after Scooby as the police were about to execute a search warrant on Shaggy and Velma's place.

Fred and Daphne spent the rest of that evening and the following day in a daze, it just didn't make sense; Velma was reluctant to drive after eating chocolate liqueurs let alone anything stronger. While Shaggy had a reputation for being a bit of a hippy, it was only reflected in his dress and mannerisms. His drug of choice was the chilli pepper and the closest Velma came to substance abuse was caffeine. But as time dragged on they started to second guess themselves and began to feel guilty that they may had missed the signs that things were not all well with their friends. Late the next day Fred and Daphne were summoned to the police station, there had been a breakthrough. At first they were elated to be told that all charges against Shaggy and Velma had been dropped; then they listened dumbfounded as the detective explained why. Traces of the substance found in Velma's blood was also in the blood of the two rescuers who had to be stretchered away from the scene of the accident, this taken with other evidence from the Mystery Machine could mean only one thing.

"Sabotage!" exclaimed Fred his voice rising slightly expressing some of his doubt. The detective nodded slightly.

"We re-examined the Mystery Machine and found traces of a powder in the air conditioning system and residue over the passenger compartment; the vents were rigged to blow directly into the faces of the front seat passengers, especially the driver. The powder itself disassociates rapidly in contact with light which is why there was no sign of it when they were cut free. Plus the air bags and seat-belt tensioners had been deliberately disconnected."

"Poor Velma" said Daphne quietly "What was the powder?" the look on the detective's face told her all she needed to know

"Some as yet unidentified anaesthetic or sedative we think. The labs are still running tests. The vents were set for your height Mr Jones so she didn't get as much of it in the face as you would have. A couple of the rescuers inhaled the powder and reported feeling instantly very faint and sleepy. If you had been driving and switched on the AC you would have been asleep before you knew anything about it."

"And into who knows how bad an accident." replied Fred angrily slamming his fist down on the desk "someone doesn't want us on that case."

"Or..." started the detective.

"Or that case was a just a set-up, whoever asked us there knew we'd use the AC when we were driving so we'd all end up in an accident" said Daphne holding her hand to her mouth in shock as she realised the implication of what she had just said.

"Precisely, the Rogers' are now under police guard in hospital and in the mean time you should review your own security arrangements."

The next morning came better news, Shaggy was awake. "Hey Shag" whispered Fred as entered the room and sat next to his bed. Shaggy's face was bruised and swollen, numerous cuts and abrasions had been stitched closed while his left arm was in a sling.

"Hi Fred" said Shaggy already sounding exhausted from just speaking those words "how's Vel doing this morning? They are going to wheel me over to spend some time with her after breakfast" Fred could see his face brighten up.

"Sleeping peacefully, the doctors reckon she should come out of it this evening or tomorrow morning. She breathed in a lot of that powder for her size so it'll take some time for it to clear out of her body."

"Man it was everywhere, like it wasn't her fault Fred I switched on the AC" Shaggy replied, his eyes already beginning to close involuntarily.

"Shag, it wasn't your or Velma's fault, it was sabotage. You may not know this but your little accident with the AC saved us all from a nasty accident on the freeway." said Fred trying to cheer him up

"Didn't help Vel much" he replied sadly, Fred could see the guilt in his face

"Shag man, it wasn't your fault" emphasised Fred "we were set-up. Someone wanted us to have an accident, and we're going to find out who did it."

"Thanks Fred" muttered Shaggy as he drifted off to sleep again

As predicted by the doctors, Velma woke up the next morning. Fred and Daphne were seeing Shaggy, and taking his food order, when the news came through, Daphne rushed to her friend's side.

"Can someone tell me how I got here?" said Velma quietly, gently fingering the bandages and plasters on her head and face "and while you are at it can you explain why my head is all bandaged up and my neck in a brace? Daph?"

Daphne paused for a second then spoke softly "Someone disconnected the Mystery Machine's airbags, seat-belts and rigged the AC system to blow out a knock-out powder in your faces. Shaggy accidentally turned it on just before you arrived home and, well, you ended up parking the Mystery Machine through the garage wall."

"Jinkies, Shaggy!" asked Velma the concern evident in her voice, she sat up attempting to get out of bed before giddiness overcame her and she let Daphne ease her back down "bad idea that Daph" she whispered. Velma held tightly onto Daphne's hand till the world stopped spinning.

"Shaggy is doing fine he's been in to see you a number of times yesterday; he's tired and a bit beat-up like yourself but nothing bad. You weren't going too fast so neither of you were that badly hurt. Fred's off getting him some extra food for breakfast then I expect they'll bring him in to be with you."

Velma smiled, but only briefly as the movement made her face hurt, Shaggy was on the mend if he wanted extra food.

"Breakfast sounds nice" said Velma as her eyes fluttered closed "Shaggy sounds nicer."

The next day Fred got a postcard in the mail, on the front was a picture of a prison while on the back was a simple note 'You were lucky this time. The Vengeful Spirit of Dr Penrose Rubert'

"Jeepers Fred the postmark is from the day of the accident! There was no way of him knowing unless he really is a ghost."

"Ghost nothing Daph that was done by a real flesh and blood person"

"As I said a real flesh and blood person did this."

Later that Fred and Daphne were summoned urgently to the hospital; both feared that one or both of their friends had suffered a relapse given how evasive the hospital had been. When they go there they found that Shaggy and Velma had been moved into the same room in a different [art pf the hospital and were under heavier guard. Outside the room their physician was talking to some nurses,

"... no member of staff is to go in there alone, any procedure, even if it's just taking their temperature, is to be witnessed by two other members of staff and the instrument is to be inspected by all staff before and after. No food or drink is to be taken into them, only what their friends bring..."

"What happened?" Fred and Daphne spoke simultaneously. They looked in to see Shaggy and Velma, both appeared pale and each was on an IV; the bag contained a dark coloured fluid.

The physician showed them Shaggy and Velma's medical records, both were sealed in plastic bags, both looked like they had been soaked in some dark reddish-brown coloured fluid aside from part of the front cover. The unstained area spelt out the words _It Has Begun_.

"We've checked, each set of notes was soaked in their own blood"


	6. At home with the Rogers

The security changes worked as there were no further incidents and two days later Shaggy and Velma were released from hospital, their parents were waiting at home to greet them along with a couple of their neighbours some. The day before Velma's father had changed the locks on their doors and windows while Scooby had checked the place over for odd smells. Fred and Daphne picked them up from hospital and drove them home; it would be several weeks before either Shaggy or Velma would be up to driving again.

"Oh man home, sweet, sweet home" said Shaggy when their home came into view

"That's so true, I can't wait to see how our babies are doing and to sleep in our own bed" said Velma.

"Like I hope they haven't missed us too much" said Shaggy "step on it Fred"

Daphne rolled her eyes as the pair spoke. They were soon pulling up the drive; in front of them was a 3 bedroom brick-build affair with a small front garden full of poppies and wild flowers. Their parents were out front waving at them and hurried to help them out of the car. Velma was first; she walked stiffly using a cane to take the weight off her ankle, her neck was in a foam collar. Shaggy was out next, his arm was in a sling, his face was still bruised and swollen. As she walked in Velma ran her hands over some books in the bookcase near the front door. Then she and Shaggy went to check on their 'babies' in a large fish tank which straddled the serving hatch between their kitchen and living rooms, and the various plants that adorned (or cluttered as Daphne would put it) their house. Fred and Daphne waited patiently as Velma and Shaggy clucked and fussed over the fish and the plants. There were plants everywhere, some were herbs, chillies and the like used in cooking but most were just ornamental. In addition to the plants Velma grew mushrooms in the garden shed, partly because they were interesting to study but mostly because they both liked eating them. Most of the garden was devoted to growing vegetables of various kinds. They had solar panels on the roof, Velma's office contained more computing power than a small company and more music that many radio stations as it stored their combined music collections. Their most treasured position was in their bedroom, an old black and white TV, with VCR, ideal for watching old horror films.

The inside of their house was decorated in muted pastel colours with the occasional highlight of bold colour. The flooring downstairs was of polished wood whereas thick carpet was used upstairs. Fred was in reflective mood as he sat in a sofa in the living room. He realised that he'd never actually spent much time just being in their house. The walls were a pale apple-green colour, room was dominated by two huge bookcases which sat either side of the fire place, loudspeakers and a TV sat on the mantle, the fireplace contained DVD's, CD's and other assorted home entertainment paraphernalia aside from that there were two sofas, a dog basket and two smaller bookcases which also served as places to put drinks. In between the sofas was a very thick and soft rug. The rest of the room contained plants. Shaggy and Velma said the plants brought the outside inside and kept the air fresh and clean, Fred thought they made the place feel restful, Daphne was not convinced by either argument as her hair fought a losing battle for space with a large indoor fern next to her head. If their approach to fish and plants were anything to go by Daphne could just image the house swarming with children when Shaggy and Velma got around to having them. Daphne wasn't sure if the world was ready for such an event, let alone her.

When they all lived in a shared house both Shaggy and Velma's rooms were very different to this and each other. Even when they moved in together just prior to their wedding and a few indoor herbs had appeared, no one would have predicted that the end result of their union would have been this kind of house. Fred wondered what was in store for him and Daphne, they had talked about settling down together for ages and planned to stay in the current HQ neither were sure when but 'next year' was always the possible time. That all changed when they'd come home from a leap-year party to find out that Velma had just proposed to Shaggy. Fred and Daphne were still reeling from that bomb-shell by the time they were participating in the wedding just a few months later. All of a sudden Fred and Daphne found themselves living by themselves in the HQ with barely a date for their own wedding set. Now Shaggy and Velma were still the same as they were but Fred and Daphne did notice some changes, they would finish each other's sentences from time to time, reply together and say the same thing almost in unison, normally 'what?' when they wondered why Fred and Daphne were laughing at them.

It was early evening and people were getting ready to go as Velma and Shaggy were getting tired.

"Glad to be back then" said Daphne

"Man I feel better already" said Shaggy putting his good arm round Velma.

"Oh yes" said Velma as she curled her toes in the rug "a couple of days doing nothing much should do the trick."

"We'll pick you up in a couple of days then. Just lie back and let your folks look after you." Said Daphne

Fred and Daphne left Shaggy and Velma rest alone a couple of days, the last thing they wanted was to be another set of people getting in the way. They also know that Velma would be tempted to start investigating the case before "Don't forget we've got to collect Shag and Vel tomorrow" Fred yawned.

"Take some the bug spray with you" said Daphne as she climbed into bed next to Fred "I hope they're doing OK."  
>"They're fine, there's no place like home" said Fred as he spooned with Daphne and they settled down to sleep "there's no place like our home."<p>

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

Fred pulled himself out of bed, his body felt like lead but his mind was screaming at him to get moving.

"Freddie? What's that noise?" said Daphne sitting up in bed.

"Alarm" Fred staggered to the window and flung it open, he took a few lungful's of air, his head felt clearer already "the carbon monoxide alarm. Daph, we've got to get out of the house."

With the adrenalin pumping Daphne grabbed her bag and stepped out of the window onto the small balcony. Once outside they pulled the widows to and called 911.

"Wonder what caused that, I can't see any problems?"

"Freddie, we're all electric, apart from the log fire which was out, there's no source of that gas in the house." Fred grabbed his phone and called Shaggy and Velma.

"Right they're up and ready to move, they're opening all their upstairs windows and have turned on some outside lights. Their alarms haven't sounded yet."

The Fire Department were soon there and vented the house, just as they expected there was nothing wrong in the house. In the morning a careful inspection outside the house revealed a hole drilled in the wall just next to where their cable TV came into the house. Next to it were impressions in the earth, the dimensions matched those of a compressed gas cylinder.

"Let's get over to SV's and see what Velma thinks" said Fred

"I'll give them a call and let them know what we found and that we're on our way" said Daphne

When they arrived Shaggy and Velma were outside looking at something.

"What's up guys?" said Fred as they got out of the car.

"Shaggy checked outside, he found a similar hole in their wall, but it didn't get all the way, see?" said Velma pointing to part of the wall.

"You ready to go? We can discuss this at HQ, plus there's lunch in the slow-cooker."

"I'm ready" said Shaggy.

"Let me lock up first. Scooby, time to go!" said Velma as she headed indoors.

The garage doesn't look too bad" said Shaggy as they arrived at HQ. The garage was in the process of being repaired and was covered in scaffolding and plastic. Velma was silent, deliberately not looking at the garage as she went inside.

When they were seated and the coffee passed around Daphne handed Shaggy and Velma a handful of photos

"Well you wanted to know what happened, so here it is."

"Oh my word!" whispered Velma, going pale "I'm so…" Shaggy put his arm round Velma

"Man, like it's not your fault Vel, I know what you're thinking" he whispered as they saw the damage done to the garage and the Mystery Machine.

"But I was driving"

"Then you were drugged, that's not your fault" said Fred

"I know Fred, but I still feel responsible. I'm a careful driver."

"Enough of the damage, that's not important. Are you two managing OK at home?" said Fred

"Yes thanks Fred; our parents are taking turns to help us while we are on the mend, plus Scooby is the best home help anyone could ask for" said Velma.

"Like breakfast in bed two days running" said Shaggy.

"Right guys, what have you been able to dig up while we've been out of commission" said Velma.

"Well we've tried to contact the person who hired us for the Arizona case, number not know, and the newspaper articles were all fakes."

"Like it was a set-up job" said Shaggy

"Just as the police suspected, the Mystery Machine had been tampered with and the case was a fake."

"We had one more piece of information, as Rubert has made threats against the moment you had that accident they started monitoring any communications he had. He's been sending and receiving a set of coded messages over the past few days but they can't work out what they mean" Daphne handed Velma a copy, it was a letter to a family member scattered with Bible references, but something was odd about them.

Mark 6:47 -1, Hosea 3:1 +7+8, Ecclesiastes 8:10 -1, Jeremiah 9:18 +2 +3, Jeremiah 14:4 -2, Genesis 4:11 -7, Mark 5:29 +3, Jeremiah 51:34 +16, 1 Samuel 25:11 +9, Habakkuk 1:17 +7, Genesis 37:24 +15, Colossians 2:2 +2 +3

"Hmmm a book code of some kind" said Velma as she stared at the list the prison authorities had complied.

"That's what they think but they haven't cracked it yet" said Daphne

"Hmmm" went Velma leaning back and stroking her chin.

"Well I suspect you'll have it sorted before evening Velma" said Fred

"Don't to be too sure; book codes are very hard to break, what does -1 and +7 mean? There are loads of combinations."

"We've also got the police reports on your notes. The last entry for you both was 'exsanguination' initialled by PGR. That's Rubert alright" said Daphne.

"That sounds nasty, what it is?" said Shaggy.

"The technical term for removing all the blood from a body" said Velma

"Ewww no wonder you two were a bit pale if that is what he was trying to do you both" said Daphne

"Wait a minute" said Velma sitting forward "that's the technical term; the notes were filled out correctly. Freddie can you get the hospital to compare that entry with those that are known to be his"

"I'm on it" said Fred as he went to the computer

"Why?" said Daphne

"The one thing that is drummed into medics during training till it becomes second nature is record keeping. A number of doctors have been caught out by their own records so there's a chance that if Rubert has someone on the inside they will have left some evidence."

Velma stared at the coded message and the information on the medical records, she had a hunch that the two were connected, if only she could work out what it was. That night they all checked and re-checked that their doors and windows were locked.

That night Rubert sat in his cell and penned another letter.


	7. Spiritus Vitae

A week later Velma and Shaggy went called to the hospital for a check-up, Fred and Daphne took them there as they were still not up to driving. While they were there they also had a discrete meeting with the police and the hospital administration to review progress on the case. The hospital administrator outlined the findings of their investigation which had been prompted by the analysis of the entry in Shaggy and Velma's medical records.

"So it would appear we have two different PGR's one in general medicine, the other only in anaesthesiology. Their handwriting is similar but sufficiently different that we can be sure they are two people. The one in general medicine we can assume is the now disgraced Dr Rubert but we are still trying to track down the second PGR."

"The second person, that's it" whispered Velma sitting up in her chair.

"What, what you figured out Velma?" said Fred

"The second person! There was another person with Rubert when I followed him to the records room, plus I was injected from _behind_; Rubert was in front of me all the time."

"Like the door was closed from the inside" said Shaggy.

"Jinkies that's it, we've just found our ghost; there was someone else in the room with him."

"Now we just need to find them" said Fred.

"We have further good new, we managed to crack the code" said the police office "The translated message seems to be the instructions for the exsanguination attempt on the Rogers'"

"Well?"

"Pray go again hurt them make their blood flow like water and empty their hearts."

"Like that's some nasty prayer" said Shaggy.

"Well the word 'pray' can mean what you think it means but it also has a more arcane use in regular speech let me demonstrate" Velma turned to Shaggy "Shaggy I pray you give me another cookie"

"What?"

"Shaggy, can I have another cookie? Or to put it simply Velma wanna cookie."

"Scooby Snack?" said Shaggy reaching into his pocket.

"I was just giving an example Shaggy"

"That word eighth word should be 'is'" said the administrator and he looked up the verses on line.

"We think they made an error" the police officer looked closely at the original letter "hmmm or they had really odd handwriting, I think this _is_ an eight which would be correct but it sure looks like a seven."

"They're a doctor what do you expect their handwriting to be like" whispered Shaggy to Daphne.

"Wait a minute let me see that" the administrator examined the writing carefully "I've seen this before, and not from Rubert."

"What do you mean?"

"Rubert was very careful when he wrote notes but his casual handwriting was sloppier, but a while ago we had an anaesthesiologist here and she was suspended after a few patients became ill, she had written out drug instructions incorrectly, her sevens and eights were indistinguishable meaning people got the wrong amount of medication. It all got very messy and she's been on gardening leave for a while now. She's recently been doing some work on clinical coding as that's all computerised "

"What's her name?"

"Her name? Oh yes, I recall now… oh my word…" the administrator held his hand to his mouth "her name was Patricia Gill Rubert."

"Bet you that's the person whose been writing to our dear doctor" said Velma.

"I think we need to have a talk with the other Dr Rubert" said the police officer.

"I'll see if she's in" said the administrator as he called her office; he put the phone down a short while later "she hasn't turned up for work today."

"We'll get after her" said the police officer and with that the meeting finished.

"I saw the address where Robert sent his letter" said Daphne when they were in the lift "it's just a couple of hours drive from here."

"Anyone fancies a drive to the country?" asked Fred.

"Well…" said Velma, her reluctance was clear in her voice and body posture.

"Ro" said Scooby.

"Like, I'm not sure" said Shaggy.

"Look, this is personal, if not for us, for the Mystery Machine" said Fred as they stepped out of the lift. When they were in the car Velma spoke up.

"I'm not sure Freddie; this PGR has nearly cost us our lives already. She isn't just someone in a mask trying to scare us; she's trying to kill us" said Daphne.

"Like that's a small but important difference" said Shaggy.

Fred's shoulders sagged slightly "I know guys, but the best form of defence is offence. She's nearly killed us in our own homes"

"We just can't wander in with a net and hope for the best, she's the one who's been setting the traps, Freddie I don't like that look on your face" said Velma as a wicked grin was slowly spreading over Fred's face.

"I think we need to change places with the villain for a change."

"So we're the ones wearing the mask this time?" said Daphne.

"You read my mind Daph, but Velma's right, we need to go in with a plan, and not just one of the spring and net kind. Let's work this out back home."

When they got back Fred parked they checked around the house for anything suspicious before they went in. Fred and Shaggy headed for th ekitchen while Daphne, Velma and Scooby went to sit down.

"So was it an interesting read then?" said Velma when Fred and Shaggy were out of earshot.

"What?"

"Fred's mind, was it an interesting read?"

"Well you know I like short stories" Scooby and the girls tried to hide their laughter when the boys returned.

"Like what's funny, want to share the joke?" said Shaggy as he sat next to Velma.

"Tell you later" she whispered.

Fred came in carrying a portable white-board "Right gang, let's get to work."

For hours they planned, trying to think of various scenarios, of how thing could go wrong and what they could to mitigate that risk. They played 'them and us' with Velma acting in the role of PGR, then with a computer simulating her behaviour. Finally they converged on a set of probable events and how they could be countered. The preparations alone would take a day so they fixed two days hence when they would go to confront the other Rubert.

On that day they boarded the Mystery Machine with a sense of reluctance and foreboding. They knew what had to be done, none of them would be safe while Patricia Rubert was at large; the day before they had received a note taunting them to come and get her or she would come and get them.

"Well at least we know she'll be there" said Daphne as they set off.

"At least we know we're walking into a trap" said Fred

"Don't remind me" said Shaggy

"Forewarned is forearmed, hopefully she isn't expecting us to be prepared" said Velma. Even Velma didn't sound that convinced by her arguments, even with the element of surprise in all their simulations they were successful just over half the time. The time spent on the journey was occupied with checking and re-checking their gear and running through their overall game-plan. Finally they arrived and parked in a pre-selected location.

"Game's on Rubert, no-one tries to kill my husband and gets away with it" muttered Velma under her breath as she stepped out of the van. Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Velma looked around to get their bearings; each had a small ruck-sack on their backs and various tools in their belts. Velma took some pills as they walked off and adjusted the orange glasses strap she was wearing. A figure watched them from the shadows and headed off to intercept them.

The gang walked into the farm, parked near a barn was a tractor with a back-hoe. Fred felt the motor, it was still warm.

"Quiet" said Daphne.

"Too quiet" said Shaggy.

"We planned for this, remember" said Velma.

"We planned for most things Vel, but not that" said Daphne; a woman appeared in front of them pointing a sawn-off shotgun at them. Velma immediately recognised her as the woman who had been walking with Rubert that night at St Gabriel's. They leapt for cover as she fired, Fred stumbled to the ground clutching his leg; he was dragged to her feet hand helped away by Daphne and Shaggy.

"I'm fine, I just tripped."

"Uh-hu Fred, you got hit with a few pellets" said Velma, there were spots of blood on the floor behind her.

"Oh for goodness sake, I've hurt myself worse learning to ride a bike" Fred took the weight on his injured leg, cursed under his breath but kept on moving. At the sound of the shotgun Scooby crept away from the Mystery Machine to execute his part of the plan.

The gang looked around for better cover, there were a few open barns which could provide some shelter but their best option was a brick building with an invitingly open door. Another volley of shotgun pellets from both barrels made up their minds for them and they ran into inside, closing the door behind them. Inside it was a workshop and crop processing machinery. They hid amongst the equipment listening in silence. The only thing they heard was the sound of the door being locked.

"Man this is a trap, and we ran straight in it" moaned Shaggy.

"I'm not too sure, this place is draughty, any gas would get blown away" said Fred.

"True but I think Shaggy's right to be cautious, let's look around but stay out of confined spaces" said Velma.

The gang explored the building keeping in open and high-up places. They climbed up to a walkway which spanned the length of the building, at one end was a door marked exit. It creaked under their load.

"I'm the lightest, let me go first" said Velma, she slowly walked across the walkway towards the door. Finally she reached the end and after a bit of effort the door popped open causing Velma to fall forward as light flooded in. She waved at them to follow, Shaggy went next holding onto the rail as he walked. As the approached the middle the noise from the walked way began to increase, it sounded like something was giving way and reluctantly he headed back. When he was a few feet away from Fred and Daphne the walkway began to give way, he jumped for them and they managed to catch him as the walkway crashed to the ground.

"It's too high for me to jump down, especially with all that walkway in the way. I can see another door against this wall. The building juts out a bit on that side so I guess you go through another room before you can get out. You go that way and I'll find a way down from here" said Velma.

"OK see you in a bit. If we don't meet up outside in ten minutes we'll all meet back at the Mystery Machine" said Fred

"Like Plan E Velma" said Shaggy.

"Plan E it is" said Velma.

While the gang made their way to the door identified by Velma she was checking out her surroundings. She was on an outside platform with a set of stairs which went in the wrong direction, up. Still up was an improvement and could lead to a fire escape or a way back in. Velma walked carefully up the stairs and along the walkway round the building. On one side it ran parallel with another building about thirty feet away, way along her path was interrupted by a set of pipes which ran over the gap to the next building which did have a accessible fire escape to the ground. Velma glanced into the building; it looked like the gang had found the door so she decided to wait there till they appeared before trying the crossing. She glanced in again to see Patricia carrying a ladder with her shotgun holstered over her shoulder. _All of a sudden I feel like doing some tightrope walking_ thought Velma and she crawled over the pipes, dashed down the fire escape and round the corner of the building before she could be seen. She glanced around and made eye contact with Scooby who was hiding some way off. Plan E was still on.

While Velma was making her way round the outside of the building the rest of the gang headed for the door. It opened into a small high ceilinged room, Shaggy kept watch while Fred and Daphne checked the room.

"Like mad gun lady coming this way" said Shaggy.

"Shut the door Shag" said Daphne, he did so.

"Suckers!" shouted a voice from outside followed by the sound of the door being bolted shut the receding laughter.

Fred sat down to check his leg while Shaggy and Daphne checked around the room.

"See she missed me" said Fred pointing at the large gash on his leg.

"That's good so can you help us find a way out from here,"

"There" said Fred pointing up at the wall.

"Guys check this out" said Shaggy standing next to a small window at eye level "this is one way glass and we're on the wrong side."

"I'll keep an eye out while you two start work on our escape plan" said Daphne as she began to carefully peel the coating away. Once this was done she used the mirror on her compact to look around.

"This is what we think it is, hurry up boys" she called out as she took some make-up out of her bag and placed it on a surface facing the window, carefully aligning a perfume atomiser then checked her compact once more then hid out of view. She glanced round to see how things were going, so far so good.

"Someone's coming this way" called Daphne checking her compact "it's not Velma, quick go to plan A."

Patricia quietly strode up to the window and glanced in, she could only see three of them, _good_ she thought _this means I can pay __personal__ attention to dear Dr Dinkley_. On the wall next to the window was a line of gas cylinders almost as tall as she was. From each ran a hose which lead into the room. Patricia quickly walked along the line of cylinders turning each of the valves full on; she hurried back to the window and watched with amusement as the gang tried to work out where the hissing noise was coming from and their increasingly desperate attempts to escape. Their attempts to break-out were interrupted by a faint beeping noise from their backpacks.

"Plan B, quick" whispered Fred and they each reached for one of their shoulder straps. They slumped to the ground with their hands over their mouths; Daphne's compact was on the floor facing her. Within seconds they were all motionless.

"Breathe deeply my meddling ones, soon it will be all over" said Patricia to herself as she as looked through the widow. She kept watch for a couple of minutes then turned and walked away "now it's time for the main event" she checked in her pockets then set off to find Velma.

After several minutes of searching Patricia was beginning to get frustrated.

"Come out, come out wherever you are you little brat" muttered Patricia.

"Hello!" Velma appeared out of the shadows and swung a pick-axe handle, Patricia had to jump back to avoid being hit. "My name is Velma Rogers" this time Velma connected, a blow to the stomach caused the woman to double up "You nearly killed my husband" she swung handle like a baseball bat knocking her to the ground. Velma face was pale and emotionless as she walked towards Patricia "prepare to nearly die." Just as Velma raised the handle over her head Patricia pulled a Taser out of her pocket and shot Velma in the stomach. Velma dropped to the ground screaming, her body thrashing around uncontrollably. Patricia hauled herself over to Velma, pulled a small case out of her other pocket, opened it, took out a pre-filled syringe then injected the full load into Velma before she could react. Velma jumped to her feet, she started to run but within seconds her limbs began to stiffen and she half-slumped, half-fell to the floor. Hidden from view she pulled a pen from her belt and pressed it into her leg. She managed to drag herself a few more feet but soon froze. Patricia walked up to Velma, took her rucksack off and threw it aside. Surprised by how heavy it was she knelt down and looked inside. She pulled out a small gas cylinder connected to a mask and demand valve attached to one of the shoulder straps.

Patricia got up, rolled Velma onto her back then sat down on her stomach "You don't mind if I sit here for a while do you? Good I knew you wouldn't mind. Well that was tougher than I thought, still Pen will be happy that you've got what was coming to you all. So just to let you know, what I've given you will paralyse all but your automatic nervous system, you're awake and can breathe but that's about all, let me show you what I mean" and with that she stood up and dragged Velma by her hair out into a nearby field next to a recently dug pit. She rolled Velma around so that her head was hanging over the pit. All Velma could see was the pit; she heard Patricia leave then return a while later. Velma was dragged away from the pit then rolled onto her back. Velma blinked at the light; Patricia came into view holding two items in her hands, a large clear plastic bag and a role of tape.

"Remember these you nosy bitch? The drug will keep you still for about ten more minutes, about 5 minutes longer than your air will last, if you breathe slowly" Patricia checked her watch "but just to be on the safe side" she put each of Velma's hands into fists then taped them in that position ,she lifted them up so Velma could see he handiwork "look mummy no hands" she laughed for a second then her face took on a hard edge "Time to finish the job" Patricia was satisfied by the terror and panic in Velma's eyes as she placed the plastic bag over Velma's head, put some oxygen in it from the cylinder leaving the mask inside, then taped the bag closed round her neck. Once that was done she placed the oxygen cylinder upright in the ground next to Velma's head, Velma stared at it mournfully.

"Well now you're dressed for the part let's talk about your friends. I was merciful on them, nothing unpleasant, I used nitrogen. Quite a peaceful way to go I understand, none of the panic and terror of other ways. Just off to check on them now, I'll be back before your dead to let you know how they're doing, I mean dying. Toodles."

Patricia dashed over to the room imprisoning the rest of the gang; she looked through the window and stared in disbelief at what she saw. She ran into the building and opened the door open to get a better view. Their bodies were gone; all that was left were their clothes. It was as of their bodies had just vanished, leaving their clothes in the position they were lying. She hurried back to find Velma, thankfully where she had left her there. "Change of plan, you get a live burial" Patricia sat up and turned the oxygen on and shoved the cylinder under Velma's jumper then took the container out of her pocket and refilled the syringe.

"So I'll give you a top-up, push you into the pit then fill in the hole with the back-hoe. After that I'll be free to find your friends so they can join you. Should have done this in the first place."

Patricia rolled up Velma's sleeve and reached for the syringe, she glanced up at Velma then paused, the bag over her head appeared to have been mauled by something and her clothes and skin were pale, suddenly Velma's taped hands shot up and grabbed Patricia by each side of her face, she pulled herself up till they were face to face "Now it's your turn to die" whispered Velma. Patricia dropped the syringe and screamed at the top of her voice, clawing at Velma's hands in terror "Join us Patricia."

The sound of movement came from behind them, more voices called out "Join us, join us."

Velma let go, Patricia looked round to see the rest of gang appear as ghosts-like figures shuffling towards her. Their faces were white, even the colours of their clothes looked washed-out.

Panic took hold; Patricia jumped up to run away from them and fell straight into the pit. The instant she fell the gang rushed to Velma's side and tore off the plastic bag. The second it was off Shaggy whisked her away to the closet building. Despite the distance the sounds of their tears could be heard followed a while later by other more intimate noises. It was some time before they appeared each holding onto the other as if their lives depended on it. By then the authorities had already arrived and Rubert had been pulled out of the pit and was being escorted into a police wagon. Velma was hustled into an ambulance to be checked over before joining the gang where Velma and Shaggy clung to each other like limpets with Scooby in-between them. The gang was finishing off outlining what had happened to one of the police officers.

"We had oxygen cylinders in our back-packs, tools, make-up and our ghost clothes" said Fred "the oxygen allowed us to work and the tools enabled us to get out. We used a glass cutter to cleanly remove a window then climb out to safety."

"I spent a whole day washing those clothes to fade the colours and rigged a miniature camera and transmitter in my perfume atomiser and a small display in my compact. After that I helped Velma with her special set up." said Daphne.

"Set-up?" said the officer.

"We figured that she'd try the same trick on me again" said Velma quietly "I took drugs to counteract the effect of any sedative she injected in me. We rigged a breathing tube system so I could breathe; it was concealed in my glasses and ran down my back into my clothes. In addition I had artificial skin on my neck which meant the tape never touched my skin..." Velma went on to explain that a hollow tube was attached to each of the arms of her glasses. They ran into her hair where they were further concealed by the glasses strap. The tubes ran down her neck where they were concealed by special-effect make-up. From there they were incorporated into the structure of her bra straps to ensure that the tubes stayed in place and reduce the change of them being found.

"Scooby was able to turn the gas off as soon as Patricia left then came to help me" said Velma.

"Like then, as soon as Patricia left Velma to check on us Scooby chewed open the bag and got her changed in her ghost clothes."

"Well that was all very clever" said the officer "you can come round the station and finish the report tomorrow."

"Almost too clever, I just want to go home now" said Velma wearily.

"Yeah next time the Mystery Machine can take care of itself" said Shaggy as he escorted Velma away with Scooby following behind.

"Come on Daph, we'd better go or they'll take our ride" Fred took Daphne by the hand and they too walked towards the Mystery Machine. Daphne could sense he was thinking deeply.

"What's wrong Freddie?"

"I don't know how long we can keep this up, things are getting nastier."

"Time to work on our retirement plans?"

"'Fraid so Daph, it'll be the first item on our next business meeting."

When they got to the Mystery Machine Velma was in the back curled up in a ball fast asleep, her head resting on Shaggy's lap with Scooby curled around her.

"Like she asked me to use the off switch, I think she wants to wake up safe in our bed" said Shaggy.

"I don't blame her, I really wish it worked on me now" said Daphne.

"One thing Fred, the last thing she said before zoning out was 'tell Freddie I'm not retiring yet'" Fred smiled.

They headed home in a more positive but still reflective mood, their dice with death making them all realise that their luck wouldn't hold out forever. They all knew that soon they would have to give it up, or at least ease off. Though that day was closer than ever; tomorrow still belonged to Mystery Inc.

(A/N sorry for the delay. got held up doing other things. Velma's encounter with Patricia was inspired by the line from 'The Princess Bride' "_Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."_ Sometime next year there will hopefully be the concluding story in this set 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Dinkley')


End file.
